Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)
Associate Minister’s school attendance statement perplexing
Cuts to te reo Māori programme disappointing and short-sighted
Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)
The Education Minister’s decision to axe a te reo Māori teacher professional development programme and use the funds for new primary school Mathematics workbooks is extremely disappointing, concerning and short-sighted, says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua president.
Trade Deal is no deal for Workers
Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU
“Today’s announcement of a possible trade deal with the United Arab Emirates is not a cause for celebration”, says NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “There is no evidence of a deal with no enforceable rights for workers, protections against forced labour or modern slavery. Nothing has been noted abut enhancing the rights of women in the UAE.”
“We don’t currently know the real value of the deal. No National Impact Analysis or economic analysis has been made public. The International Trade Union Confederation states the UAE has one of the worst records for absolute denial of fundamental workers’ rights. No Independent Trade Unions are allowed under UAE law, nor is there any right to strike. One thing we do know is that this deal does nothing to help tackle climate change.”
“We will be working with the Government, parliament, and allies to highlight the problems that this trade deal will create. Migrant workers in the UAE make up 88 percent of the overall workforce, yet they have little or no protections at work. This agreement does nothing to protect them. We should send this agreement back so that a properly enforceable trade deal can be signed,” said Wagstaff.
Government’s desperate decree to stop public servants working from home won’t work
Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU
“The Minister of Public Service Nicola Willis is expecting public servants to stop working from home to help bolster the flagging local economy is micromanaging gone mad and counterproductive.” NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff said.
“This Government has already tried to control staffing ratios in terms of ‘front line’ and ‘back office, and now it is trying to control where people should work.”
“Minister Willis should concentrate on the big picture issues confronting Aotearoa New Zealand, instead of trying to manage the day-to-day operations of the public service.”
“Though flexible hours and working from home options vary across organisations, it’s understood that people are more productive and happier with flexible arrangements. In a cost-of-living crisis it also reduces the financial and environmental impact of transport and parking. This is an operational matter, one the minister shouldn’t be involved in.” Wagstaff said.
“Working from home practices have benefited from new technology, making it easier to connect remotely. The advent of COVID speed up the adoption of these tools and practices, demonstrating value to employers and employees alike.”
“Employers offering a hybrid model of working from home for part of the week has become very attractive for some workplaces, both in terms of convenience and productivity.”
“It’s crucial that the public service offers good work that attracts and retains the workers we need. This decision will just make that goal much harder in an already difficult environment.”
“Despite the Government doing its best to portray itself as modern, innovative thinkers, this decree demonstrates that in reality they don’t understand the value of a modern, positive, high-trust workplace culture. Micromanaging and stopping staff from working some of their time at home is all about an old-fashioned command and control mentality.”
“The Minister of Finance is fooling herself if she thinks forcing people to stop working from home will correct the damage done to the economy by the massive job cuts.” Wagstaff said.
“Public servants only have so much money to spend. Now they will have to spend more on public transport and less on their local communities. It is a zero-sum game,” said Wagstaff.
Education leaders unite against Government’s moves to downgrade place of Te Tiriti in education
Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)
National education leaders say they are committed to continuing to improve the education system to realise the promises of Te Tiriti.
In a joint statement, Te Akatea, NZEI Te Riu Roa, New Zealand Principals’ Federation, PPTA Te Wehengarua, Secondary Principals’ Council, Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand, Montessori Aotearoa New Zealand and NZAIMS say they reject the Treaty Principles Bill, which is based on a fundamental misinterpretation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is deliberately misleading.
The groups say they will oppose the Goverernment’s proposals, announced last week, to downgrade Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the Education and Training Act.
Teachers, school leaders and school boards have worked hard over many years to understand and enact practices that give life to Te Tiriti, say the groups. They have put an enormous effort into learning and change processes to meet this obligation and to therefore ensure that schools better meet the needs of akonga Māori.
“As a group of national organisations, we are united in our opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill and to downgrading the place of Te Tiriti in the primary objectives of school boards.
“As education sector leaders, we will work together to oppose the downgrading of Te Tiriti in the Education and Training Act and will support our members to engage and take action to uphold Te Tiriti in our schools,” Te Akatea President Tracy Fraser says.
The Government is proposing to demote the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the Education and Training Act by removing it as one of the four current primary objectives for boards in their governing of schools and subsuming it under one primary objective.
It also wants to scrap requirements for statements of National Education and Learning Priorities for early childhood and schooling which includes ‘instilling in each child and young person an appreciationof the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and te reo Māori’.
The groups say they are concerned that the learning of children and young people, and particularly ākonga Māori, will be negatively impacted if these changes are to progress.
“The current objectives in Section 127 (d) of the Education and Training Act are part of a broader, well-evidenced response by the education system to reverse the equity gap in New Zealand education and address the historic and current institutional racism within schooling that has led to Māori being under-served by our education system.
“We urge the Government to ditch the Treaty Principles Bill now, to re-consider proposals to amend Section 127, and to instead focus on how investment in the education system can better meet the needs of ākonga Māori.
“We encourage the wider community to raise this issue with National MPs and their own political representatives and to stop any change to Section 127 that would weaken schools’ obligations to give effect to Te Tiriti.”
Editor notes
The Government is proposing to remove ‘give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi’ as one of the primary objectives for boards in their governing of schools, by amending Section 127 of the Education and Training Act. The Government proposes to replace the current four objectives with one primary objective, ‘educational achievement’. with the other current objectives placed underneath as necessary for the achievement of the one objective.
Along with ensuring every student is able to attain their highest possible educational achievemment, and that schools are inclusive, non-discriminatory and are physically and emotionally safe, Section 127 requires boards to give equal attention to giving effect to Te Tiriti.
Section 127 (d) specifies this by ensuring their ‘plans, policies and local curriculum reflect local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and te reo Māori … achieve equitable outcomes for Māori students.’ The Minister of Education’s proposals would replace the current primary obligation and specific steps with as yet unspecified language about ensuring equitable outcomes for Māori students.
They would also remove schools’ focus on developing local curriculum – that encourages them to adapt national curriculum to the different contexts of local communities, iwi and hāpu with generic ‘teaching and learning programmes’.
This could result in a much-diminished responsiblity on school boards that could weaken students’ access to te reo and tikanga Māori, and would stop current work developing plans, policies and local curriculum to reflect local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori.
Teacher Supply Summit and The Education Sector Groups
Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)
Victoria University |Te Herenga Waka has hosted several meetings of a steering group in 2024 to begin to address teacher shortage. Representatives from Council of Deans of Education, NZEI, Te Akatea and PPTA Te Wehengarua were the main attendees, with input from ERO and NZTC.
The steering group considered how to define the problem of teacher shortage and explore ideas for addressing the problem.
There has been a strong commitment to working together in a solutions-focused manner, and the agreement to hold a summit on Teacher Supply is the first tangible action from this.
Teacher Supply Summit September 2-3, 2024
About 50 people met for a two-day summit in Wellington. They represented 19 organisations including Te Akatea, Teacher Education Forum Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ), NZ Council for Deans of Education, Tertiary ITE providers (Universities: Victoria, Massey, Waikato, Otago, Auckland, Auckland University of Technology ; Other: Manukau Institute of Technology, Bethlehem Tertiary Institute), Unions (NZEI, SPANZ, NZPF, NZPPTA), Teaching Council, Ministry of Education, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa (formerly known as NZSTA), Normal and Model School Association (NAMSA) and several early childhood organisations.
PPTA Te Wehengarua was represented by Allan Liddle of SPC, a PCT2, a student-teacher member, the President and two advisory staff.
NZEI provided the venue. PPTA, Te Akatea, TEFANZ, Council of Deans and NZEI shared the catering and koha.
Purpose of the Summit
The steering group’s purpose was “To collaboratively formulate solutions for the challenges associated with teacher supply in Aotearoa New Zealand. This group will develop an iterative long-term plan that includes some foundational values and is responsive to contextual evidence.”
Connemara failure highlights urgent need to address ferry fiasco
Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand
The power loss of the Bluebridge ferry Connemara in the Cook Strait last night highlights the importance of a resilient publicly-owned interisland ferry service, says the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ).
MUNZ National Secretary Carl Findlay says this issue with the Bluebridge service alongside other previous issues demonstrates the need for high-quality and fit for purpose ferries on the strait.
“Once again it’s just been a matter of the quick thinking of a highly skilled crew and good luck with the conditions that there has been a safe recovery of the vessel and people aboard.
“We can’t keep relying on luck.
“Cook Strait is the most critical route for New Zealand’s freight transport system and it needs to be resilient. That means public owned and rail enabled ferries that are reliable, safe, and fit for purpose.
“It’s worth noting that the Connemara is much newer than the ships run by Kiwirail and was built by the provider rumoured to be the Government’s frontrunner for new interislander ferries, StenaLine.
“Just last month the shareholding Minister, Nicola Willis, was in Parliament touting the benefits of private ferries. This shows once again how wrong-headed that statement and her decision to cancel the iRex project was.
“It’s getting close to a year without a decision or even the final negotiation of the iReX cancellation that is likely to cost us hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The government needs to swallow its pride and go back to Hyundai to negotiate the iReX deal.
“It’ll cost us more now because of this government’s rash decision to cancel the original deal but nowhere near as much as how much a failed ferry system will cost our freight customers, our economy, and the safety of our crews and passengers.”
Related
GDP numbers show economic worries are real and need a solution
Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU
Data released by Stats NZ today showed that the size of the economy fell -0.2% in the June Quarter. CTU Economist Craig Renney said “GDP in June was smaller than June 2023 – meaning no real growth in the economy for at least a year. GDP per capita has been falling since September 2022, with a steeper fall than that found during the Great Financial Crisis.”
“The fact that we are back again in economic decline should be of real concern to those in charge of the economy, and should cause a rethink. Unemployment is rising quickly. Activity in retail trade and wholesale trade has been in decline since 2022. Business investment is lower than this time last year. Building construction fell. Government investment is also falling, with spending being lower than this time last year. There is no driver of growth in the current data to lead the recovery.”
“With data as bad as this, there should be a plan to deliver growth. Every other country highlighted by Statistics New Zealand in its papers saw growth in June 2024. Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, UK and the US. None of these countries is proposing the kind of economic and fiscal approach currently being delivered in New Zealand. We are at risk of making the currently bad situation worse.”
“With jobs being lost across Aotearoa, and with falling GDP, this is the time to rethink what we are doing. Softer growth and lower interest rates will feed through to lower tax revenues, putting the governments books further at risk. Other countries are seeing growth, and we need to be building a more sustainable economy in the future. When you are in a hole you should generally stop digging. That calls for renewed investment in New Zealand – not less.”
“There are things the government could be doing to make sure that the economy returns to growth, and that the recovery benefits all New Zealanders. We have an energy crisis costing jobs rights now. There are building sites lying idle and workers heading overseas for work. There are stalled school rebuilding projects. Rebuilding Aotearoa now will help with the recovery and make our growth less inflationary when it returns. Its time to change economic track.”
Government should intervene to protect local manufacturing jobs
Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to intervene and protect local manufacturing, following the announced closure of the pulp and paper mill at Penrose, Auckland, which is off the back of the recently announced closure of two mills in the Ruapehu district.
“It’s devastating that so soon after the news about the Ruapehu mills, we are now seeing another pulp and paper mill go under, and around 75 job losses,” said Wagstaff.
“This points to increasing market failure in a critical industry, which will have severe impacts for local communities and New Zealand’s manufacturing sector.
“The Government should show some leadership and intervene to protect communities from further mill closures and job losses.
“This Government pretends it has a plan to improve the life of kiwis, and to build our economy, but we look at the choices they are making, the reality is their inaction speaks louder than words.
“At a time when the country is facing economic uncertainty and rising unemployment, ministers should be doing a lot more to support local manufacturers, including by stepping up with a plan to ensure power price stability.
“Our thoughts are with FIRST Union and E tū members and all workers at the Penrose mill who are facing the awful prospect of losing their jobs,” said Wagstaff.
National and NZ First urged to block ACT’s anti-worker agenda
Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to reconsider its decision to progress Brooke van Velden’s new Employment Relations Amendment Bill, which would deny workers who have been misclassified as contractors their fundamental rights.
“If this Bill proceeds, businesses will be encouraged to exploit the contractor loophole and deny workers their fundamental rights including collective bargaining, annual leave, sick leave, holiday pay, and the right to join a union,” said Wagstaff.
“Despite what the Minister is claiming, the Bill could actually make life more uncertain for employees and employers by exposing more workers.
“The Government seems committed to making life harder for working people. At a time when unemployment is rising, when work is becoming scarce, this is exactly the wrong path to take.
“These changes are engineered for employers in the gig economy. Uber has lost in court and the Government is going to legislate so that they, and companies like them, don’t lose again.
“It is abundantly clear who ACT is working for – not for some of the most vulnerable workers in the country, but for multinational corporations and unscrupulous employers who want to exploit workers.
“National and NZ First should reconsider their decisions and block this ACT policy that is a fundamental attack on worker’s rights. They could stop this tomorrow,‘ said Wagstaff.